07/30/2024
Yesterday we contemplated the parable of the sower and the importance of preparing the ground for God's word. Interestingly, that parable ends not only with words regarding those seeds, but how we should hear and use the parable. Today let’s look at how this parable can lead us to places in our lives that we never expected.
“Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. He who has ears, let him hear."”
Matthew 13:8-9 ESV
Later in the book of Luke, We read the same parable again, but this time the apostles ask what the parable actually means and Jesus explains it to them. Then, he ends that conversation with these words...
“As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience.”
Luke 8:15 ESV
Then, following His explanation of the sower parable, Jesus goes on to describe the meaning of the lamp under the jar parable and after telling the disciples not to hide the Word they have been given, He ends that discussion with these words regarding our hearing...
“Take care then how you hear, for to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he thinks that he has will be taken away."”
Luke 8:18 ESV
We learn here that simply hearing the Word of God is not enough; we need to take that Word into our hearts and lives, then reveal it to others... otherwise we will risk losing it. Sure, you might still be able to quote the words, but the effect of the Word will be lost to you.
On an evening long ago Ann and I attended the wedding of a wonderful young couple; Maggie and Ben. The ceremony that night took us back through what was then forty plus years of marriage, and as we sat listening we thought about all of the love, hardships, and blessings those years had brought us. Weddings are not just the joining of a couple; not just the covenant being made between those two lovers, but a reminder to all those married couples in attendance regarding their own covenants and their own dedication to one another.
The Word of God as we are told by the parables is much the same. Each time we read these wonderful stories, we are reminded of their message and how that message has played out, or is playing out, in our own lives. As we have read today, they also teach us that there is more to them than just the hearing... We must absorb them into ourselves and let them bear fruit in our lives.
I want to thank Maggie and Ben for inviting Ann and me to their wedding. I want to thank them both for allowing Ann and I to share in a beautiful evening, and their wonderful love and the covenant they made with one another. Just by being there you filled us with memories, but there was more; by our witnessing, we were able to join with you in a renewing of our own covenant. We did that by saying a single word… “Amen”.
You see, what you have entered into is much like hearing a parable... The message doesn't end there. No, it only begins… and after hearing you must begin the process of making it a part of you and sharing that with those around you. Make your home a place of love and faith, in every sense, and share the fruit it bears with your family, friends, and most of all... any children that God blesses you with.
So the marriage ceremony is like a parable, it teaches us, and by our hearing, it reminds us that we are to do more with that event than just hear the words; we are meant to hold them fast in an honest and good heart, and let them bear fruit with patience. Each time that we attend a wedding, let's make that couple’s covenant a renewal of our own promise by saying “Amen”, and letting their moment of sacred commitment be a rededication of the one we made to each other… and a rejuvenation of the promise we too made before God and many witnesses.
Prayer:
Father, thank you for allowing us to make covenant with you, and with one another before you. Thank you especially for the marriage covenant that joins two lives together as one, and unites their families as one in the process. Thank you Father for the parables of Jesus that not only tell us stories that strengthen our faith, but which teach us how to live righteously, and how to incorporate your Word into our daily lives. Help us Lord to listen to the words of covenant and parable alike, and to make them our own by incorporating them into ourselves, and allowing them to abide in our hearts as they guide our lives down paths of righteousness. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you our God, who is true, and unchanging. Holy are you who has given us the ability to listen to parables and understand them through Jesus Christ and your Holy Spirit. Holy are you who allows them to seep into our hearts where we begin to live them out. Holy are you who reteaches us their lessons each time we hear them told, just as you renew our commitment to covenant each time we hear or say those words. Praised be your name for making covenant with us, and through them teaching us the importance and everlasting nature of the covenants we make with one another. We pray that your Word, being forever true, will guide us as we give our word and promise to you and others. Whether we are giving our hearts to you, our love and lives to a spouse in marriage, or making one of thousands of other promises during our lives, we pray that we are strong enough in character and faith to live up to our word just as you live up to yours. Have mercy on us Father when we fail in our promises, and show us grace in those moments when we lose sight of the lessons in the parables of Jesus. Hear our prayers of contrition and take the promises we make in them as if they are perfectly true, and without doubt. Even as you choose not to remember our sins and transgressions, choose through the blood of Jesus to accept these… the promises of a sinner who has lied… as truth… as if those lies have never happened. Let the covenants of others strengthen our own, and the parables of Jesus teach us to live as we should. Perfect us as we are able to stand by them honorably, and strengthen us in our faith as we weep before you in regret and contrition after we have failed. Wash us clean in the blood of Jesus, and see His perfection in us as you pour your grace over us and call us worthy of eternity with you. Let our marriages be made holy, and our lives as flags of faith and righteousness through hearing and living your Word.
And all God’s children said “Amen”.
Rich Forbes